The parabalani had neither orders nor vows, but were enumerated among the clergy and enjoyed clerical privileges and immunities. In addition to performing works of mercy they constituted a bodyguard for the bishop. Their presence at public gatherings or in the theaters was forbidden by law. At times they took a very active part in ecclesiastical controversies, as at the
Second Council of Ephesus. They received their name from the fact that they were hospital attendants, although the alternative name parabolani also became current, because they risked their lives () in exposing themselves to contagious diseases. It has been alleged, though without sufficient proof, that the brotherhood was first organized during the great plague in
Alexandria in the episcopate of
Pope Dionysius of Alexandria (second half of the 3rd century). Though they took vows before the bishop and officially remained under his control, the
Codex Theodosianus placed them instead under the command of the
praefectus augustalis, the
imperial governor of Roman Egypt. Because their actions resulted in many other riots, successive imperial laws limited their numbers: In
Constantinople, the number was further restricted from 1100 to 950. According to Fortescue, the
parabolani, who he says, "were not nice people", seem to have disappeared by Emperor
Justinian I's time. == In film ==